Sonic Drive In vs Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Sonic Drive In vs Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
Sonic Drive In Franchise
Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie Franchise
Investment $1,242,000 - $3,523,300$475,000 - $650,000
Franchise Fee $45,000$35,000
Royalty Fee 2.45-5%5%
Advertising Fee 3%1% Nat'l + 1% local
Year Founded 19542012
Year Franchised 19592015
Term Of Agreement 20 years10 years +10
Term Of Agreement 20 years10 years +10
Renewal Fee 10 years for $6K-


Business Experience Requirements

 
Sonic Drive In Franchise
Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie Franchise
Experience
  • Industry experience
  • General business experience
  • If no industry experience, must have an operating equity partner
  • -

    Financing Options

     
    Sonic Drive In Franchise
    Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/Yes-/-
    Start-up Costs No/Yes-/-
    Equipment No/Yes-/-
    Inventory No/Yes-/-
    Receivables No/Yes-/-
    Payroll No/Yes-/-

    Training & Support

     
    Sonic Drive In Franchise
    Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie Franchise
    Training On-The-Job Training: 400 hours Classroom Training: 24 hours Additional Training: At existing franchise location

    Both classroom and hands-on training in our kitchen. Last minute training and grand opening support. We will stay with you until we are both comfortable that the restaurant is running smoothly.

    Support Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings/Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security/Safety Procedures Field Operations Franchisee Intranet Platform -
    Marketing Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social media SEO Email marketing Loyalty program/app -
    Operations International franchisees required to buy multiple units/master licenses; 60% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 25

    Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed.

    -

    Expansion Plans

     
    Sonic Drive In Franchise
    Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie Franchise
    US Expansion Yes-
    Canada Expansion NoYes
    International Expansion No-

    Company Overviews

    About Sonic Drive In

    Sonic Industries Inc. was founded in 1973. In 1974, Sonic acquired the name 'Sonic Drive-In' from Troy Smith, Sr., and began franchising. Smith used his more than 15 years of experience in the restaurant business to develop and operate the Sonic franchise program. A wholly owned subsidiary of Sonic Corp., the company is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has locations throughout the United States. The company's storefronts recently got a facelift to give them a 'retro-futuristic' look.

    Your estimated initial investment necessary to begin operation of a Traditional Sonic Drive-In franchise ranges from approximately $1,242,200 to $3,537,700 plus land costs and includes the $45,000 franchise fee that must be paid to Sonic.
    Your estimated initial investment necessary to begin operation of a Non-Traditional Sonic franchise ranges from approximately $361,900 to $978,700 and includes the $22,500 franchise fee that must be paid to Sonic.

    "franchiserankingscom"     "Entrepreneur
    #91 on Franchise Rankings.com
    #4 in Franchise 500 for 2020.
    #28 in Franchise 500 for 2021.




    About Cheese Curds Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie

    We opened our first Cheese Curds location in the Woodside area of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in February 2012 and we were the Halifax Regional Municipality's very first gourmet burger restaurant. Several other gourmet burger concepts soon followed, some have even since closed their doors, but we continued to succeed despite increased competition and opened a second location in Dartmouth in May 2013. We have been asked over and over when we are going to franchise our awesome burger concept and the answer is...very soon! We have been working hard gearing up for this over the last little while and we are happy to say we will be ready to bring on franchisees for the Atlantic Canada region in 2015.Cheese Curds provides a unique franchise proposition, not only in the quality and reputation of the brand to the consumer but also in the proven operating method offered to franchisees based on the years of experience of our founder.Cheese Curds believes competition is healthy and can only be positive for the customer. We differentiate ourselves by providing chef inspired menu items using only the freshest ingredients, with an unwavering focus on flavour and we prepare everything to order in an open kitchen concept in front of the customer. Our orders take a little longer to fill as a result but we stand behind our mantra that "it is worth the wait". Our high repeat customer experience tells us we are right. Contact us if you are interested in becoming part of this great Canadian success story